


Service for the Dead

by Erin_Rogoff



Category: Amy Harrison x OC, Amy x OC, Daryl Dixon x OC - Fandom, Daryl x OC - Fandom
Genre: Afterlife, Amy Harrison x OC - Freeform, Amy x OC - Freeform, Daryl Dixon x OC, Daryl x OC - Freeform, Death, F/M, Guns, Pistols, Prison, Walkers, Walking, Watchtower - Freeform, Weapons, Zombies, dead, fence - Freeform, life - Freeform, the walking dead - Freeform, twd, walking dead - Freeform, wd - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-18
Updated: 2016-10-18
Packaged: 2018-08-23 07:01:48
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,776
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8318368
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Erin_Rogoff/pseuds/Erin_Rogoff
Summary: It's been over a year since Amy's death and my brother - once Amy's boyfriend and lover - has slipped into a deeper depression as he misses her terribly. I know not what to do for him to make him feel any better, and I wonder if my brother is jealous that I have a love and he does not.





	

I held my 22-caliber rifle in my hands, aimed at the walkers pressing against the barbed wire fence beyond the field of the prison. Cracking my neck from side to side, I fired again and again, one walker going down each time, with a spatter of blood seeping from out the holes in their heads. I was in the watchtower, standing guard, while Glenn and Maggie were elsewhere doing God knows - what I know - what. The windows of the watchtower were broken and a breeze blew inside and whipped my hair around, my red hair falling about my shoulders and my bangs falling into my face, blocking my vision. I sighed and pulled back, brushing my bangs out of the way with the back of my hand, beads of sweat coming down my forehead and cheeks.   
"That fence is going to go." I whirled around with my gun pointed at the person whose voice spoke. I exhaled sharply and my blue eyes narrowed. It was my brother Christopher who spoke to me. "Sooner or later, the walkers will get in here and we'll need to find a new home."   
I peered into the scope of the rifle and saw the fence was swaying back and forth slightly. I pulled back and looked to Christopher. His ash blonde hair - now long, reaching his shoulders - swayed in the breeze and his hazel eyes looked to me with his feelings hidden, his voice flat. His pale skin was now a mix of sunburned and tan. "Christopher, why don't you help out with taking out the walkers? You can grab a gun too, you know." Christopher looked to his side and took from out the holster in his jeans a 38-caliber pistol and smiled. I glanced back up at my brother and saw he was ready to help me out.   
"Michonne and I are thinking of setting up two grave sites."   
"For who? Patrick?" I asked, thinking about my brother's missing - younger - duo. Whereas Carl and Patrick were in their young teen years, Christopher was eighteen and thought of Carl as a little brother character, in some ways. In the trio, there was Christopher, Carl, and Patrick. Carl had taken Patrick's death well, some could say, but I knew he was just not showing his feelings of missing another friend.   
Christopher shook his head no. "I'm talking about Andrea and... Amy." Christopher's voice grew shaky and I knew the pain was still there, the pain of missing her.   
Before Rick came to the group and was reunited with Lori - who died roughly a year ago - and Carl, my brother and Amy - Andrea's little sister - fell in love. Christopher was shaken to the core when Amy died and declared Andrea his 'other' older sister, and swore never to love another again. I always thought my brother's love for Amy was foolish but he was dead serious. I peered through the scope of my gun again and took out another walker while Christopher took out three in the back of the walker clan - his aim slightly off without a scope of his own, but he still was a pretty good shot.   
"Holding a service for them?" I asked Christopher.   
He nodded and then quieted. "Yeah."   
"Would you like me to be there? You know, to wish Amy a safe journey to Heaven?"   
Christopher rolled his eyes. "Come on, Erin. You know I don't believe in God." I nodded. Christopher may not have believed in God or Heaven, but he did believe in a higher power. And I knew Christopher, at times, wanted to die and be with Amy, wherever she was. "But, yes. I'd like you to be there. You can pray for her soul if you want. And I know Hershel will say a prayer for her too, even though he never knew Amy."   
"Alright." We had both quieted as we took out walker and walker again.   
An hour or so had passed and it came time for Glenn and Maggie to take watch in the tower. My brother and I stood up and brushed the dust off our pants and went back inside the prison. We went to Cell Block C and saw Rick and Beth playing with baby Judith. She was a little Ass-Kicker, as my boyfriend had dubbed her.   
"What do you think her first word will be?" Beth asked Rick.   
A memory of Merle flashed in my mind, thinking he would have said something to the effect of: Judith's first word will be anything but 'mommy.' If he was here - alive - and said that, I would have gone to him and kicked him in the nuts.   
"I'm betting either 'daddy' or 'Carl.' What do you think?" Rick smiled to Beth.   
"I don't know." Beth returned Rick's smile. "I just hope I can sing lullabies to Judith until she's able to sing herself." I don't know why, but I felt a cold shiver go up my spine. I looked to Christopher and saw he left the block. I turned and followed after him.   
"Christopher, where-" I was interrupted.   
"I'm going to find Hershel." Christopher told me with a harsh tone in his voice.   
We went to Cell Block D and found Hershel with Tyreese and Sasha; Tyreese and Sasha like Christopher and myself for they were brother and sister too. They were talking about something but stopped and turned to my brother and me when they saw us.   
"Sorry to interrupt, but can I talk to you for a minute, Hershel?" Christopher asked the former farm owner. Hershel nodded and the two went elsewhere in the block, leaving me to talk to Tyreese and Sasha. Sasha had her hair redone by Lizzie and Mika, her hair now in long braids with pink and green ties holding it together.   
"Care for a little target practice later, Sasha?" I asked my new friend with a smile. Sasha nodded. "Tyreese, you can join us if you'd like. Maybe show off for Karen?" Sasha looked to her brother with a smile on her face as she nudged him with her elbow.   
"She got you good, Ty!" Sasha joked. I could have sworn Tyreese was blushing but I didn't know for sure. Sasha and I shared a laugh and Tyreese accepted my offer.   
Christopher and Hershel returned to us and requested they now speak to me. Tyreese and Sasha said their goodbyes and we left Cell Block D and went to look for Carl, whom we knew to be making crosses at this time for Patrick and the others - despite Patrick being an Atheist - who died during these past months.   
"Christopher, you're a fine young man." Hershel patted Christopher's back. "Amy was lucky to have found you." Christopher inhaled sharply and blinked a few times. I knew he wouldn't cry. Not now. He was like Beth in that way. "Of course, I will guide the service for her." Christopher patted Hershel's hand and smiled sadly.   
"Thank you, Hershel. You're a good man too." Christopher walked on ahead of Hershel and me and left us in the shadows.   
"Christopher has been stoic since his Amy died, hasn't he?" Hershel asked me. I nodded. "Do you feel he's becoming more distant? Moodier, even?" I nodded again. "Erin, you and I have to keep an eye on him. If it's not me, it's you; and if it's not you, it's me." I knew what Hershel meant. He was saying that if either one of us was to die, the other should look out for my brother.   
"My brother is right. You're a great man, pure of soul." My voice seemed to echo through the halls even as I spoke in a hushed tone of voice. "I have a favor to ask you." Hershel nodded and I continued. "If you die before me, there's someone I need you to give a message to. From me. You see... Christopher isn't my only sibling. We have a sister. She was the middle child, between me and my brother. I was a toddler when she died and I've prayed to her countless times for guidance, but if you die first, can you tell her I love her?"   
Hershel patted my back and then hugged me. "I know she knows you love her, but yes, I will tell her that for you."   
Stinging tears dotted my eyelids and I wiped them away with the palm of my hand. "Thank you, Hershel."   
And we continued forth through the halls of the prison. Both Hershel and I believed in God and wondered what he had in store for us after the apocalypse of the dead rising up - just like the Bible said - but our faith in God remained strong. I wasn't one who was overly religious but I did believe in God and in Heaven and Hell. And I believed my sister waited for me before the gates of Heaven.   
We turned a corner and entered another room, finding Christopher standing over Carl who was hammering nails into two planks of wood, making crosses. Carl handed Christopher one of the crosses and Christopher thanked him for it. Without words, Christopher left the room as quickly as he entered it and I knew he was hurting. Badly. And I wondered just what would happen next. The faith in which Christopher and I were raised taught us that suicide was a sin. I didn't believe that but I wondered if my brother would consider offing himself just to be back with our parents and Amy and Andrea.   
I missed Andrea and Amy both very much. We were like three peas in a pod, almost like sisters to me, Andrea the elder sister and Amy the younger sister. Andrea was the protective one, I was the bookworm, and Amy was the believer. She'd told me before that she believed in mermaids that lived in the Mariana Trench and the Loch Ness monster in Scotland, and she even told me that once she and Andrea went to Scotland together to see Nessie. They didn't see the monster but still Amy believed in it.   
The only things that Christopher had left of Amy were her mermaid necklace - the one Andrea took from the abandoned department store in the city - of which he wore as a bracelet tucked into his shirtsleeve after Andrea killed Amy to give her peace, and a picture he took with a camera that he found in another store. The picture was one of him holding up the camera like a selfie while Amy embraced him and kissed him, her eyes sparkling as they caught the sun. Christopher had that picture framed and hanging on the wall by his bed in the prison. He stared at it every night and there were rumors he'd talked to Amy in the darkness of night when all were asleep. I wondered to myself if my brother was praying to her for guidance - like I'd prayed to our sister for that - or if he was just talking to her like she was still alive.   
Hershel and I met up with Christopher in the field. Christopher had a distant look in his hazel eyes as he watched the walkers on the other side of the fence moaning and groaning and hissing at us with hungered stomachs - and eyes.   
"Hey, beautiful." Daryl stood digging a pit fit for a person. He set down the shovel and climbed out of the hole. He pulled me into a kiss and I knew - even if I didn't see Christopher - that my brother was jealous I had a lover and he did not. Anymore, that is. When the kiss broke, I pulled Daryl aside, taking his hand in mine, and told him about the proper funeral arrangements for Amy and Andrea. "Want me to stay with you? I may not be religious or anything but I can pay my respects too." I nodded. It was good to have Daryl with me. He was my rock, my strength when I had none.   
Daryl offered to hammer the cross into the ground next to the grave site for another one of the deceased, but Christopher said no, that he would do it. Hershel, Daryl and I watched as Christopher acted like a man having a bad dream. He had vacant eyes as he used a hammer and drove the cross into the dirt, setting it up. I left my place beside Daryl and went to gather some wildflowers - daisies and Queen Anne's lace - that had grown by the posts of the barbed wire fence. Christopher looked to me and nodded, so I knelt down and placed the flowers before the cross before standing again and taking my place at Daryl's side.   
Hershel looked to me and Daryl and then to Christopher, seeing he was on the verge of crying. He cleared his throat and began speaking. "To those gathered here before the site of our much-missed Amy Harrison, thank you for joining us for this small ceremony. Amy, the living miss you and you shall live in our hearts. You shall be alive as long as we remember you. I may not have known you, but I am certain you were a good woman in life to take the heart and love of our dear Christopher here." Hershel turned to my brother and put an arm around his shoulder. "Christopher, would you like to say anything to Amy?"   
Christopher nodded and then stepped forth, out of Hershel's one-armed embrace. "Amy, I will never be able to forget you. Since first I saw you, I was in love. I loved you, your laugh... And I loved waking up to seeing your smiling face. Had we met sooner, before the world went to... the dead... I would have wished to ask you on dates, maybe even ask you to have married me if not for the walker that got to you." Christopher chewed on his lower lip and I glanced down to my hand as Daryl curled his fingers around mine. "I may not believe in God, but I know someone or something up there protects you. I only wish I could be with you again... And if I die, I will be with you again." Christopher's breath hitched. "I will never love another the way I loved you. The way I love you." Christopher blinked a few more times and let the tears now fall. Dropping to his knees, he put his face in his hands and sobbed.   
I came to my knees and sat on my heels, embracing my heartbroken brother. Hershel took a step forward and patted my brother's head. "You really loved her." I said quietly.   
"Yes..." Christopher said. "I did..."   
"Christopher, I-" I was interrupted.   
"Just go. I want to be alone." My brother said in between sobs. I wanted to stay but it was Daryl who helped me to my feet. The two of us left but Hershel remained for a moment longer, telling my brother that it was okay to cry, that it was okay to feel sad over a lost love. Christopher thanked Hershel quietly and then Hershel left, following after Daryl and me.   
Later that night, I couldn't sleep for I was thinking about my brother. He hadn't moved from Amy's 'plot' since the eulogy he gave her, and i was worried he would take it upon himself to feed the walkers by using himself as bait. It was Daryl who told Glenn and Maggie to keep an eye on Christopher while they were in the watchtower keeping guard during the night, and they complied, just as concerned about my brother as I was.   
As I lay awake in Daryl's arms, I watched him as he slept. His chest rose and fell and I felt safe in his arms. I remembered before we left the mountain outside the city that Christopher and Amy shared a tent together, and I felt bad how Christopher no longer had a love like I had. My brother had turned icily stoic since Amy's death and it was hard for me to read him. I used to be able to, but not now. In his state of mind, he could either do nothing, kill himself, or hurt others. I wondered to myself if he would hurt Daryl but that didn't seem like something Christopher would do. I let out a sigh and pulled myself closer to my lover so my head rested on his shoulder and my hand rested on his chest, feeling his calm heartbeat.   
"What a service for the dead..." I said in a voice that was barely a whisper before falling asleep.


End file.
